#hrm... i cannot remember much because i kept going back to sleep - had another two dreams | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

The Fire Hunt, Volume Two, Chapter 2

—I used to live thanks to the patrons —said the painter, as dawn came—, my work was well paid… but the demons were more and more, I had to know what was happening, why they appeared…

—I understand perfectly —the huntress replied—, I just hunted. I traded furs, sometimes I was paid to look after merchant expeditions and such things. It wasn't hard to start facing them, I just had to change what I was hunting, stop thinking only about boars, start thinking about things with bigger fangs.

—But you started as soon as they showed up, how?

—I had nothing to give up. I already had a good bow, a reliable dagger, my broken halberd…

—You know, I wanted to ask about that halberd…

—The demon and the dragonslayer also asked about it when they met me. It used to be a normal halberd, but the pole broke during a fight, at some point while protecting some merchant, I don't even remember exactly who, it was nothing special. I liked it better this way, it's quite comfortable, so I took it with a blacksmith to adjust it a little, you know, weight and head measurements and all that, besides the splinters at the end of the handle.

—I understand.

—It has served me well with most demons.

—I’m surprised that you use it without magic, and that you don't even wear armor… I don't know if I could face them with just my war hammer.

—You use that bec de corbin very well.

—Thank you.

—And I think you know as well as I do that our greatest advantage isn’t in weapons, nor in armor or magic, it’s in the companions.

—You're right. I don't think any of us could face demons for that long without the rest of the brotherhood.

—I think some of my companions wouldn't even wake up if it wasn’t because we travel together… —said the huntress when a snoring from Leofsige interrupted her—… especially the demon.

—You must have heard this before, but it’s so strange that you travel hunting demons, accompanied by someone nicknamed the demon…

—It is, no doubt, but the one who enjoys it the most is him.

—Hrm… —the druid let out a growl all of a sudden—… Were you two up all night? —he asked Emer, rubbing his face and beard with both hands, moving away from the pair of horses he had slept with.

—Yes. I've been looking at all the information the brotherhood has gathered. There is much more here about the demons than I imagined —she replied.

—Everything I gave you is copied —the diplomat said suddenly, in a low voice—. You can take it with you.

—What? —the huntress asked incredulously— Seriously?

—Yes —said the man, a little more awake—, we could give you more information, but we haven't finished the details nor…

—What you’ve given us is more than… I don't even know what to say… Thank you.

—All those records we have made, all that I have drawn and written… —the diplomat began to say.

—Everything that the ritualist and I have painted, trying to preserve every detail to perfection —the painter continued—, has been for one reason only.

—And we believe that you understand that reason perfectly —the man finished.

—Why? —Leofsige suddenly intervened—. Why do you trust us so much? —He spoke loudly, sounded incredulous, gestured a lot—. They saw us killing demons, alright, but… How? How can you trust someone so fast?

—How long have you been awake? —the huntress asked him.

—Did you know that fairies smell and hear the intentions of people? They just need to see them —it was the ritualist’s voice, coming out of a cart, with a pot in her hands and a pair of waterskins at her back.

—… I knew that Cuno can smell things like that, sometimes, but… —continued Leofsige, until the woman interrupted him.

—The beasts use their instinct and their sense of smell, the fairies add to that the study. They have perfected those capabilities for such purpose.

—And you have that in your blood, just as I have my hand, right?

—Exactly —she replied, smiling. Then she sat by the campfire, which the painter and the huntress had kept burning all night, and put the pot of water on the fire. As soon as she finished, she only had to look at the flames to make them grow. The liquid boiled quickly, and the woman began to pour tea.

—I cannot remember the last time I smelled infusions like that —spoke the druid, still drowsy.

—We can also share a little with you —the painter said to him.

—Well, you've already made the huntress and the druid happy —commented the demon—, if now you tell me that you have a barrel of whiskey I can take with me, I'll be happier than those two together, I swear on my left hand.

—I think we have some whisky… —said the diplomat, getting up.

—… Don't bother —Leofsige's tone showed his disappointment.

As the sun went up in the sky, the six of them drank tea and shared a simple breakfast, surrounded by tranquility.

—What did I miss? —it was the tailor's voice, appearing from inside one of the carts, wearing his armor and carrying something under his arm.

—That is what I want to know —added the dragonslayer, rising from the ground where he had fallen asleep, covered with his cloak.

—Could it be that they get more tired from wearing armor and therefore wake up together? —the demon asked.

—At least I do —said Ellanher, jumping to his feet and stretching.

—I spent a few hours at night working, before going to sleep, while you talked about the records. I saw that neither of your two horses have saddlebags, so I made you this —in his hands he showed a pair of leather sacks, clearly very well crafted—. You have already been told that you can keep the copied records, right?

—He's done things like that before —said the diplomat to the four companions—, and yet it never ceases to amaze me.

—It always happens —the huntress replied.

—I don't understand artists —said the demon.

The papers fitted perfectly on one side of the saddlebags.

—Did you have a specific address before you found us? —Emer asked the painter.

—No. Anywhere we could find demons.

—Then we were heading to the same destination. The sun is already up high up, shall we continue the journey?

—Of course.

—You don't mind having spent the night awake? —the dragonslayer asked them, as he finished putting his armor on.

—It's not the first time —they both answered in unison.

—I think your girlfriend gets along with the huntress —said the demon, climbing on his horse, to the diplomat, sitting on the wagon.

—How did you know we're…? —the man began to say slowly, but Leofsige interrupted him.

—I may not be as good at noticing things as your ritualist, but I am not so bad at it either.

—Blood is something… strange.

—Indeed, strange.

The wagon, pulled by two horses; the two carts, each one by one animal; the two mounts of the slayer and the demon; and the druid, in beastly form, carrying the dragonslayer on his back, departed like a single caravan.

The diplomat and ritualist talked for a long time with Leofsige about magic and blood. After them, the painter and Emer kept on talking about the demons, trying to understand as much as possible about the ones they had faced the day before. Closing the column, the dragonslayer asked the tailor about better ways to mend his clothes and give maintenance to his armor, listening attentively. The druid only smelled the soil and air, completely disconnected from the conversation of the two men.

—Stop —Cunobelinos suddenly muttered, not walking anymore—. Stop, everybody, now! —he continued, roaring like a bear.

—What's going on? —the huntress asked, quickly placing an arrow over her bow.

—It smells of fear, burnt wood, and fire much worse than normal —said the druid, rising up as soon as the dragonslayer finished getting off his back.

—You are right —Ellanher said, more serious than ever before—, I know that fire. It is dragon fire.

—Shall we go forward and leave the caravan here? —asked the diplomat.

—Let’s leave Cuno and one of you here to look after the caravan —proposed the huntress, dismounting.

—Good idea —the druid replied.

—Heli, stay with him —said the diplomat, and the ritualist nodded, getting down from a cart and grasping her naginata.

—Good luck —the woman bid farewell.

—For you as well —Emer replied her.

They advanced for some minutes. The road was more and more surrounded by trees, and the smell of dragon fire was more and more intense. Suddenly, when they saw a slope in front of them leading to a valley, another scent was present. It was close enough for everyone to notice it right away.

—Don't stop your march for me —it was the voice of a woman, as laden with death and blood as her scent—, after all, I was hoping to ambush you from behind.

Strange creatures the size of horses, walking hunched over misshapen leathery wings, covered with hairs like thorns and dreadful fangs, appeared from among the trees, encircling the column from both sides.

—Dragonslayer, demon, cover one flank. Claudius, come with me to the other one. Caolán, huntress, stay behind us and shoot as fast as you can —said the painter, the voice of a general. The tailor immediately joined her, and together they formed a wall to the left of the caravan. Ellanher and Leofsige did the same thing at the right one, charging head first against the monsters. Emer and the diplomat, covered by their companions, fired arrows and bullets.

—What are these scums? —asked the demon, opening the head of one of the creatures with his axe—. They're rotten on the inside, And I thought they smelled bad on the outside.

—They look like bats —the tailor said, piercing the neck of one with his spear as he stopped another's fangs with his shield—, may they be demons we did not know?

—No —answered the huntress, releasing three arrows in one shot—, they have something different from every one we've seen, I can feel it. These are created by some twisted magic…

—How quickly mortals learn —it was that woman's voice again—, it’s vampiric magic, in case you’re wondering —and it spoke with a mocking tone.

—Just what we needed! —Leofsige roared, sinking his right fist into the skull of one more creature—. Inquisitors, knights, demons, and now vampires.

—Just one —the voice continued, then laughed. None of the six could tell where it came from.

It wasn’t hard for them to face the bats, but it seemed they had no end, emerging one after another from the trees… until a glow shone for a second among the trunks.

—… That works too —it was the voice of the druid, stopping running and returning to its human form.

—We heard the fight —said the ritualist, her eyes and hands shining like fire.

—Finally, some luck —the demon growled, cleaving one of the last creatures with his axe.

Within a few minutes, they had terminated them all, and their corpses were decomposing on the ground at incredible speed, until it was impossible to distinguish them from the earth.

—Cuno —the huntress called—, do you smell a woman wrapped in death and blood?

—… No —replied the enormous man, after sniffing with great attention— I can only smell you, the corpses, and the dragon fire.

—Damn it —the demon spat.

—Let's go on then —Ellanher said decidedly—, the trail of that fire continues on this hillside.

The ritualist and the druid went for the horses and the vehicles, while the other six began to descend, with the dragonslayer at the front, quite hastily. Soon, they could see smoke rising from a village in the middle of the valley.

—Ellan… —the huntress suddenly called him.

—It doesn't matter —he told her, without looking back, clenching his fists on his spear and shield—, moving forward is our only option.

End of Chapter 2